Bunnings celebrates oldest employee’s 91st birthday, shares a heartwarming story about his journey to rejoining the workforce — “Never too old!”
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Bunnings' heartwarming message to its oldest employee for his 91st birthday has left social media in tears.
Sharing their heartwarming wishes with Harold — an elderly employee who started working at Bunnings at the age of 87 after deciding to rejoin the workforce four years ago — on LinkedIn, the hardware chain said that the senior worker has been an asset to the company since joining the team.
The company also shared Harold's backstory, including his life, jobs, and history with tools and hardware.
The post read: "Harold started his career at 16 years of age as a fitting and machinery apprentice, went on to become a mechanical engineer by trade and has worked across a wide range of industries during his career - such as sales, operations, maintenance and industry safety."
Harold started working for Bunnings 4 years ago at the age of 87 after deciding to rejoin the workforce. Credit: Bunnings.
The post also indicated that the 91-year-old is either working "at the tool shop register or one of the front registers, helping customers and chatting to them about their DIY projects".
Harold also expressed his gratitude to the hardware chain, saying that the best thing about working for Bunnings is his team who regularly checks in with him to see how he's going.
Elsewhere in the post, Bunnings revealed that the 91-year-old's favourite memory of working at the company was when his team members surprised him with sweet messages and well-wishes for his birthday on the retailer's internal social network.
"His favourite Bunnings memory is having over 400 team members acknowledge his birthday on Bunnings' internal social network, and was blown away by the response and the well-wishes," it read.
The Canberra Bunnings team said that Harold has always been a hardworking and cheerful co-worker, describing him as having a "humble nature" and "go-getter energy".
The team also noted that Harold is very collaborative, revealing that he is always willing to contribute and get involved in work and different projects.
For those of you who are thinking of re-joining the workforce, the 91-year-old has one piece of advice...
"You're never too old to get back into work," he said.
"I joined Bunnings when I was 87 and I believe that age should never be a barrier, as you should focus on your strengths and capabilities."
He also noted that customers and fellow team members value the experience and knowledge of older team members.
The Bunnings Canberra team said that Harold has been a valuable employee since he started working with them. Credit: The Daily Mail.
Bunnings HR director Damian Zahra said that it is always a pleasure to be working with older employees, emphasising that they are an "integral part of creating a great place to work and offering our customers a great experience".
He quipped: "We know that Harold is a really valued member of our Canberra Airport team, and we're so pleased to be able to help acknowledge his 91st birthday as a Bunnings team member, which is an incredible milestone."
"A diverse team creates the best mix of perspectives to make better decisions, innovate and understand our customers better."
We hope this heartwarming story inspired some of our members who are thinking of rejoining the workforce to be more confident about their capabilities. We wish you good luck in your future endeavours!
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